Take Away The Tears was set up in July 2015 by Sue Nuttall, after she saw the plight of so many dogs in places like Cyprus, Romania, the Far East and Sri Lanka.
Sue says “I adopted Maggie from Cyprus because she had hip dysplasia and I really didn’t think she had much chance of a forever home with anyone else. My old Border Collie Bea was diagnosed with the same condition 14 years ago and she is still going strong so I knew I could give her the chance of a long and pain free life.”
Bea, Maggie and Molly
Sue then adopted Silvi, in even worse physical condition than Maggie, again because she knew she could make her life better.
But having two Cyprus dogs on top of her existing two dogs Sue knew her limitations. “There are only so many dogs you can have” she says.
But that didn’t stop her then sponsoring other dogs through her company Jacana – other dogs in Sri Lanka where WECare Worldwide are making such a difference to the street dog population.
“Sponsoring dogs made me realise that this was a way of helping those dogs that are less likely to get a forever home in the UK, either because of their age or condition, or because they can’t easily leave the country they are in.”
Sue Nuttall at Dogs Trust Worldwide’s International Training Programme – London March 2017
“I wanted to give such dogs a chance to be cared for and loved for however many years they had left, by providing support to find that special forever home, or providing financial support to give them a loving foster home or loving private kennels. Both of which are better than the street or government pounds which are the only other options.”
In March 2017, Sue Nuttall was invited to attend the Dogs Trust Worldwide International Training Programme in London. She attended workshops held by leading experts in education, running a shelter, dog behaviour, fundraising strategies and much more.
Take Away The Tears refers to the unseen tears of those dogs that find themselves in such awful conditions, and the daily tears of those on the front line that spend all their time, money and emotional energy saving these dogs – to give them a second chance.
This charity really does hope to ‘take away the tears’ by mobilising the support of all those people who care as much as Sue does. Watch out for events and future fundraising activities. And if you would like to offer your support by means of a small monthly donation (even £1, $1 or €1 a month would make a huge difference to those dogs in need), please click here for more details.